


nina

by cresswell



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-08 02:48:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3192407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cresswell/pseuds/cresswell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bellamy hummed in agreement. “I think that’s the last of them.” He lowered the binoculars, giving her a crooked grin. “What do you say, Princess? Feel up to an adventure?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	nina

Bellamy’s breath was hot on the side of Clarke’s neck. “We need to get out of here.  _Now_ .”

"I know, just give me a second." They were speaking in rushed whispers, crouched in a prickly bush just outside one of the grounder villages. It wasn’t one of Lexa’s, so they were being cautious, taking turns peeking through Raven’s binoculars. "I think… it looks like they’re leaving?"

"What? Give me that." Without waiting for a response, Bellamy yanked the binoculars out of Clarke’s hands and squinted through them. Clarke huffed out a sigh and sat down, her calves burning from crouching for so long. "Why are they leaving? Where are they going?"

"They could be an enemy tribe," Clarke answered. "Maybe they’ve heard that we’re with Lexa’s tribe now, and they want to run."

Bellamy hummed in agreement. “I think that’s the last of them.” He lowered the binoculars, giving her a crooked grin. “What do you say, Princess? Feel up to an adventure?”

She rolled her eyes and pushed herself to her feet. “You’re so lame.”

He followed her into the now abandoned village, just behind her shoulder as he always was. He was a calming presence, strong and solid and warm, and his hand came to rest on her waist. “Wait. What’s that?”

She frowned, looking around at the village but seeing nothing out of the ordinary. “What’s what?”

His head was cocked to the side, his face confused, and she craned around to look at him. “That sound. Is that… is that _crying_?”

"Don’t be ridiculous," Clarke said, but she felt herself moving closer to him anyway, scanning the area for anything unusual. "They’ve all gone. Nothing’s crying."

But something _was_. She could hear it, now that he’d pointed it out, and she whirled around, trying to find the source. Bellamy was right behind her, his hand on his gun. “What the hell _is_ that?”

Clarke followed the sound, ignoring Bellamy’s hisses of warning. The closer she got to the source, the more confused she felt. There was really only one thing it could be, but it just didn’t make any sense. She stopped when she reached a wheelbarrow lying on its side in the dirt. With a growing sense of dread, she circled around to the front of it.

There was a baby.

In a wheelbarrow.

In the dirt.

Bellamy was behind her in a moment. “What the hell, Clarke? I said to stay back, I said it wasn’t safe. What if one of them came back-“

"Bellamy," Clarke breathed. "Shut up."

He spluttered indignantly behind her, but she ignored him. She crouched down in the dirt, reaching out with careful hands to pick up the baby and cradle it in her arms. It had fallen quiet when it had seen her, its almond-shaped eyes wide with wonder.

Bellamy swore quietly behind her.

"I can’t believe they left a baby," Clarke said, her voice hushed. Something about holding the child made her want to be quiet and soft. "I can’t believe they left her behind."

"We should take her to Lexa," Bellamy suggested. He looked restless, like he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be doing. It was odd, Clarke thought, considering all the time he’d spent raising Octavia.

The walk to Lexa’s village was quiet. The baby had fallen asleep in Clarke’s arms, and by the time they reached Lexa’s tent, her arms burned a little from carrying the child so far.

"They left her there, you say?"

"Yes."

"Then she is not ours," Lexa replied. "A child does not get left behind unless they are not expected to live. Our customs say that the child will then belong to those who find her."

Bellamy looked as stricken as Clarke felt. “Wh- but that’s awful.”

Lexa narrowed her eyes at him, and Clarke dug her elbow into his side as a warning. “It’s custom.”

"We can’t take care of a baby," Clarke said, trying to remain calm and respectful. "She should rightfully be yours."

"I’m sorry, but I cannot take her."

Clarke could sense Bellamy growing frustrated beside her, so she figured it best to just cut their losses and go. She inclined her head respectfully towards Lexa. “Alright. Thank you anyway.”

Lexa nodded back, her face softening as she looked at the resting baby in Clarke’s arms. “Take good care of her, Clarke of the Sky People.”

She had to practically drag Bellamy out, which was difficult with a baby in her arms, but he managed to hold his tongue until they were safely out of earshot from the grounders. “What the hell, Clarke? We can’t have a baby!”

"Well, we can’t leave her!" Clarke shot back. "You heard Lexa. She wouldn’t have taken her. Who knows what they would have done if we’d just left her behind."

Bellamy studied her for a moment, his eyes narrowed. “You’re right, and I don’t like it.”

"I’m always right," Clarke said, flouncing around and hearing him splutter when her hair smacked him in the face. "Haven’t you learned that by now?"

——

The baby was almost immediately showered with affection when they returned to camp. She didn’t seem to like it, though, so the three of them decided to wait it out in Bellamy’s tent. Octavia peered at the name on the baby’s blanket and announced her name was Nina.

"Are you sure?" Bellamy asked. He’d taken over holding her, and he cradled her against his shoulder, bouncing her slightly to keep her entertained. "Because I don’t want her to grow up being called the wrong damn name."

"I’m sure. I know the grounders’ alphabet." She sat down on Bellamy’s bed, watching with a smile as her brother walked in circles with Nina. "You’re already acting like her dad."

Bellamy rolled his eyes and Clarke hid her smile behind the curtain of her hair. “No way. She’s not mine.”

"Technically, she is." Clarke pointed out, having to suppress a laugh when he glared at her. "Technically, she’s ours."

"What’ll her last name be?" Octavia asked, grinning. She enjoyed messing with Bellamy just as much as Clarke did. "Griffin? Blake? Griffin-Blake?"

Clarke turned to look at Bellamy, seeing that they both had their noses wrinkled in disgust. “Those are all pretty bad.”

"How about we just stick with Nina for now?" Bellamy suggested, and the baby in question began gurgling quietly, as if on cue. "I don’t think I’ve quite caught up yet with the fact that I now have a baby."

"A baby with Clarke," Octavia added, bursting into a fit of laughter when he rolled his eyes and Clarke blushed.

——

Bellamy took to parading Nina around on his shoulders in the mornings, holding her tightly so she wouldn’t topple off. It still made Clarke nervous. She suspected that was part of why he did it.

When Bellamy was on guard duty or doing anything else involving guns, Clarke took Nina. She wore a sling across her chest where the baby could lay, and she found herself talking to her often. The kids in the med bay kept making fun of her for it. When one of the patients was contagious or had blood all over them, Octavia would take Nina from Clarke and take her to pick flowers.

It was a pretty good routine they had going, at least during the day. Nights were difficult.

"Clarke?" Bellamy called from outside her tent, his voice rough and exhausted.

"What?"

"She won’t sleep." He stepped in without waiting for an invitation and she saw how dark the circles under his eyes were.

"So? She sleeps all the time during the day."

"But when _she_ can’t sleep, _I_ can’t sleep.”

Clarke rolled over in her bed to glare at him. “So you came and woke me up so I could share your misery?”

He looked a little hurt, and Clarke instantly felt bad. “She’s your baby too, Clarke.”

"No, I know." She sighed, sitting up, and patted her bed. "I’m sorry. It’s been a rough day."

Bellamy sat beside her on the bed, leaving a respectful distance between them, and somehow that irked her more. “I know,” he said quietly, looking up at her through his eyelashes. “His birthday, right?”

Clarke looked away. She didn’t want to do this, not now, not while things were going so well for them. But Nina reached out with her little hand and latched onto a piece of Clarke’s hair, and she couldn’t stop herself.

"Yes. Wells’s birthday. That’s why I was gone this morning. Jaha and my mom and I went to see him." She smoothed nonexistent wrinkles out of Nina’s blanket. "He was my best friend, and I wasted so much time hating him, and it’s not fair that someone so good died so young."

"I know," Bellamy said, and he did. "I didn’t really know him, you know. But I always think about what it’d be like if he was still here." Clarke looked at him sharply, and he averted his gaze. "He was the best one of us all. Even I could see that."

They were quiet for a moment, only the sound of Nina murmuring in the room, and Clarke stroked a finger along the baby’s soft cheek. “You don’t have to pretend to really care. It’s okay. I know you really don’t.”

"What?" Bellamy’s eyebrows were furrowed, his eyes narrowed in confusion. "Of course I care."

"Yeah, because I’m the only medic and you have a baby with me."

"I care about _you_ ,” Bellamy said, soft but firm, and she couldn’t make herself meet his gaze. “Baby or no baby.”

Nina squawked then, as if in protest, and they both laughed. Clarke gently extracted her from Bellamy’s arms, cradling her against her shoulder instead. “Well, that means a lot to me, so… thank you.”

Bellamy rolled his eyes, a small smile on his lips. “Don’t go getting sappy on me now, Princess.”

He laid down on her bed, nudging her legs out of the way, and she quirked an eyebrow. “What do you think you’re doing?”

"Sleeping," he replied, and then yawned. "Us being separated isn’t good for the kid, you know."

Clarke laughed, shifting Nina so she could see her face. “Look at that. She’s already fast asleep.”

"She’s got the right idea, then," Bellamy said, patting the empty space next to him. "Come on, Princess. Join the party."

His voice was growing heavy and deep with sleepiness, and Clarke did as told, stretching herself out next to him on her bed. She settled Nina between them, against both their chests, and found her cheeks warming when she met his gaze. “Thank you, Bellamy.”

He smiled, pressing his forehead against hers, and laid his hand on top of hers where it rested on Nina’s blanket. “Sweet dreams, Clarke.”


End file.
